Double wall interlocking panel construction

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for constructing a double wall panel of interlocking parts and providing means for connecting one panel to an adjacent panel in interlocking relationship, the double wall panel providing both inner and outer walls for a building with an insulating space therebetween.

11111100 States P010111 1151 3,034,000

Pugh 1451 Jan. M, 1972 541 DOUBLE WALL INTERLOCKHNG 2,115,270 4/1938Leash ..52/471 PANEL CONSTRUCTION 2,116,020 5/1938 Gauvin ..52/6172,394,146 2/1946 Bruntonetal....

[72] Inventor: Thomas F- Pugh, 938 N06 Ave., Eureka, 3 4 8 904 1970 s nat :52 2 Cahf- 95501 2,321,567 6/1943 Wilson ..52/621 22 Filed: M 131970 3,284,978 11/1966 Roeder ..52/621 [21 Appl. No.: 19,185 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 473,613 10/1937 Great Britain ..52/729 [52] US.Cl ..52/595, 52/300, 52/528, 270,760 9/1950 Switzerland .....52/58852/620, 52/729 45,026 2/1928 Norway ..52/594 [51] lilt- Cl ..E04b 2/32,E046 2/36, E040 2/46 [58] Field of Search ..52/47 1 617, 619-621,Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott 52/588, 300, 749, 595 AssistantExaminer-Leslie A. Braun Attorney-A. Yates Dowel! and A. Yates Dowell,Jr. [5 6] References Cited [5 ABSTRACT Apparatus for constructing adouble wall panel of interlocking parts and providing means forconnecting one panel to an adjacent panel in interlocking relationship,the double wall panel providing both inner and outer walls for abuilding with an insulating space therebetween.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED M 9723,634,990

SHEET 2 OF 2 [9 z; li ii if 27 INVENTOR THOMAS E Pz/aw Arm RNEY} DOUBLEWALL INTERLOCKING PANEL CONSTRUCTION CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATION This invention is an improvement over US. Pat. No. 3,407,555for an interlocking component system of construction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field ofthe Invention This inventionrelates generally to buildings of various kinds and relates particularlyto a preformed panel constructed of multiple interlocking partsproviding inner and outer walls and means for interlocking each panelwith adjacent panels.

2. Description of the Prior Art Heretofore many prefabricated or precutbuildings or portions of buildings have been provided with componentswhich joined or fitted together, such as tongue and groove joints,overlapping battens, and the like. Most of these prior art devicesrequire nails or other fasteners to hold the same in assembled relation,have been expensive to produce and maintain and for other reasons havebeen unsatisfactory. In the above referred to patent an interlockingcomponent system of construction was provided and whereas this structureserved the purpose for which it was intended, it was necessary to erectthe individual components at the job site, and after being erected onlya single wall or roof was provided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a double wallinterlocking panel with each panel including a cap and board componentconnected together by tongues and grooves disposed at an angle to theplane of the panel and forming one wall thereof, a second wall connectedto the cap components of the first wall and spaced from the boardcomponents. The second wall is offset laterally from the first wall withone portion of the second wall being'connected to the first wall by aspacer and another portion of the second wall adapted to overlie anadjacent panel.

It is an object of the invention to provide a double wall interlockingpanel in which one wall is constructed of interlocking parts connectedtogether in assembled relation and with the second wall being offsetlaterally and forming a double wall panel with insulating space betweenthe same and with each panel adapted to interlockingly engage adjacentpanels to provide mutual support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a double wall panelconstruction having interlocking components designed to support thestructural load of the building and provided with means for preventingthe entrance of moisture through the same or through the connectingjoints.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective illustratingone application of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective viewed from the interior of thestructure. r

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective illustrating one of thepanel units.

FIG. 5 is a perspective ofa modified form of the invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 66 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED'EMBODIMENT With continued reference to thedrawings, a structure 10 which may include a sidewall, partition, roof,fence, and the like is provided having a base or lower plate 11 with agroove 11 on which the structure is to be erected. In the constructionofone or more walls 12, or the like, it is desirable to erect such wallsas rapidly as possible and to use unskilled labor to reduce the overallcost of the structure as much as possible.

In order to do this, the walls 12 may be constructed of a pluralityofinterlocking double wall panels indicated generally by the numeral 13each of which includes a cap component 14, an outer board component 15,an inner wall member 16, and a spacer 17 connected together in assembledrelation. The cap component 14 has a front 18, back 19, and sides 20 and21. A groove 22 extends inwardly and upwardly from each of the cornersbetween the front 18 and the sides 20 and 21 and such groove may be atany desired angle, although an angle of 45 has been found satisfactory.If desired the sides of the grooves 22 may be generally parallel witheach other or may converge inwardly to define tapered grooves. A portionof each of the sides 20 and 21 is removed to provide flat portions 23generally parallel with the front 18 and connecting the sides 20 and 21with the grooves 22 for a purpose which will be described later. Ifdesired a relatively sharp corner between the grooves 22 and the front18 may be trimmed off to form a relieved edge 25.

The board component 15 may be of any desired size and includes a front27 and a back 28. Each of the side edges of the board is provided with atongue 29 of a size and configuration complementary to the grooves 22 ofthe cap component 14. In order to form the tongues 29, a recess 30 isprovided in the back 28 along each edge thereof, and such recess isrelatively wide and has angularly disposed sides 31 disposed generallyat an angle of 45 to the back 28. The front corners of the board areremoved to provide an angular surface 32 generally parallel with orcomplementary to the side 31 of the recess 30 and the rear corners ofthe board are removed to provide an angular surface 33 substantiallynormal to the axis of the tongue 29. The outer side 31 ofthe recess 30is spaced from the angular surface 33 of the board to provide a landportion 34 for a purpose which will be described later. As illustratedin FIGS. 3 and 4, one of the flat portions 23 of the cap component isreceived within the recess 30.

One of the tongues 20 of the board is received within a cooperatinggroove 22 of the cap component, as illustrated in FIG. 4, while theother tongue is exposed. The spacer 17 is adapted to be mounted on theback 28 in spaced relation to the exposed tongue and is adapted to beconnected to the board component 15 in any desired manner, as by anadhesive, nail, screw, or the like. The spacer 17 has one surface 35spaced from and generally parallel with the exposed tongue 29 of theboard and such surface is adapted to engage the side 20 of the capcomponent of an adjacent panel and function as a stop. The spacer 17extends outwardly from the back 28 of the board component 15 to aposition substantially planar with the back 19 of the cap component 14.

The inner wall member 16 is mounted on the back 19 of the cap componentand the spacer 17 in a position generally parallel with and spaced fromthe board component 15. As illustrated in FIG. 4, one edge 36 of thewall member 16 is located along the longitudinal axis of the spacer l7and the other edge 37 is adapted to overlie and extend beyond the capcomponent so that the board component 15 and the cap component 14 arelaterally offset relative to the wall member 16. The area between theback of the board component 15 and the wall member 16 and between thecap component 14 and the spacer 17 defines a dead air space which can beleft open or if desired could be filled with insulating material, notshown.

In the operation of the device a plurality of panels 13 are assembled ina factory or other desired location by inserting one of the tongues 29of a board component 15 onto one of the grooves 22 of a cap component 14and thereafter connecting the spacer 17 adjacent to the opposite side ofthe board component and then mounting the wall member 16 on the back ofthe cap component and partially on the spacer 17 as illustrated in FIG.4. In this position one of the tongues 29 of the board component isexposed along one edge of the structure and the wall member 16 extendsoutwardly beyond the outer edge ofthe cap component. When the panels areto be erected on the base 11, a corner panel, in which the cap componenthas been modified to provide a mitered surface 38, is placed within thegroove 11' of the lower plate 11 and thereafter a second panel is movedinto position so that the exposed tongue of the board component of thecorner panel is received within the groove of the cap component of thesecond panel and the wall member 16 ofthe second panel overlies aportion of the spacer 17 of the first panel with the edge 37substantially in abutting relation with the edge 36 of the wall memberof the first panel. Additional panels are erected in the same manneruntil the entire wall has been completed. The cap components serve asstuds for the wall to support the weight of the roof and replace thestuds of a conventional wall structure which normally are erectedseparately from the interior and exterior wall surfaces. After thepanels have been erected, an upper plate 39 having a groove 40 ismounted on top of the panels and such panels can be connected to thelower plate 11 and upper plate 39 in any desired manner, as by nails orother fasteners.

In this type of construction the tongues 29 engage opposite sides of thegroove 22 and are adapted to apply pressure thereto when either theboard component or the cap component is urged either in an in-and-out orsideways direction. When the tongues 29 are received within the grooves,the land portions 34 of the tongues are out of engagement with thegrooves 22 and form capillary stops so that water cannot penetrate tothe interior of the structure by capillary action, but instead any waterwhich penetrates as far as the land portion will run down by gravity tothe bottom of the panel where it can be discharged to the exterior inany desired manner.

With reference to FIGS. and 6, a modified form of the invention isillustrated in which pairs of cap components 14 and board components areconnected together to form a roof beam or floor joist 42. In thisconstruction the board components 15 are reversed relative to the capcomponents so that the tongues 29 of the board components engage thegrooves 22 of the cap components with the cap and board located at rightangles to each other. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a pair of spacedgenerally parallel cap components 14 are connected by a pair of spacedgenerally parallel board components 15 and define a central space whichcan be filled with a core of material 41, such as but not limited tohigh-density plastic foam, which will impart additional rigidity andstrength to the beam 42.

What is claimed is:

1. A unitary double wall panel for cooperative interlocking engagementwith like panels to form a wall structure, said panel comprising anarrow cap component having a front, back and two sides and forming oneedge of said panel, said cap component having a groove extendingangularly inwardly from each corner between the sides and the front, awide board component having front and back surfaces and an angularlydisposed tongue along at least two opposed sides. each of said tonguesbeing complementary to the grooves of said cap component, one of saidtongues being cooperatively received within one of the grooves ofsaidcap component with the front of said cap component being substantiallycoplanar with the front surface of said board component, the othertongue of said board component being located in a position remote fromsaid cap component and forming a portion ofthe other edge of said panel,a spacer mounted on said board component adjacent to said other tongueand in spaced generally parallel relationship with said cap component, awall member mounted on the back of said cap component and a portion ofsaid spacer, said wall member having a portion extending outwardly fromsaid cap component and adapted to overlie a portion of the spacer of anadjacent panel in abutting relationship with the wall member of theadjacent panel, whereby multiple preassembled panels can be erected incomplementary interlocking engagement with each other so that forward,backward and edgewise movement of one panel will be resisted by adjacentpanels.

2. The structure of claim 1 including upper and lower plate members,each of said plate members having a groove along its entire length inwhich said panels are received.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which each of said tongues has a landportion extending the full length thereof which cooperates with thegroove of said cap component to define longitudinal spaces which act ascapillary stops so that water will not penetrate to the interior of thestructure.

1. A unitary double wall panel for cooperative interlocking engagementwith like panels to form a wall structure, said panel comprising anarrow cap component having a front, back and two sides and forming oneedge of said panel, said cap component having a groove extendingangularly inwardly from each corner between the sides and the front, awide board component having front and back surfaces and an angularlydisposed tongue along at least two opposed sides, each of said tonguesbeiNg complementary to the grooves of said cap component, one of saidtongues being cooperatively received within one of the grooves of saidcap component with the front of said cap component being substantiallycoplanar with the front surface of said board component, the othertongue of said board component being located in a position remote fromsaid cap component and forming a portion of the other edge of saidpanel, a spacer mounted on said board component adjacent to said othertongue and in spaced generally parallel relationship with said capcomponent, a wall member mounted on the back of said cap component and aportion of said spacer, said wall member having a portion extendingoutwardly from said cap component and adapted to overlie a portion ofthe spacer of an adjacent panel in abutting relationship with the wallmember of the adjacent panel, whereby multiple preassembled panels canbe erected in complementary interlocking engagement with each other sothat forward, backward and edgewise movement of one panel will beresisted by adjacent panels.
 2. The structure of claim 1 including upperand lower plate members, each of said plate members having a groovealong its entire length in which said panels are received.
 3. Thestructure of claim 1 in which each of said tongues has a land portionextending the full length thereof which cooperates with the groove ofsaid cap component to define longitudinal spaces which act as capillarystops so that water will not penetrate to the interior of the structure.